Self-driving car mows down woman, leaving her trapped underneath vehicle: cops
A woman had to be rescued with the Jaws of Life after she was mowed down on a San Francisco roadway by two different cars, one of which was a self-driving vehicle.
The chaotic collision, which involved a Cruise autonomous vehicle, took place just after 9:30 p.m. in San Francisco and left the woman wedged underneath the left rear axle of the autonomous vehicle, San Francisco Fire Captain Justin Shore told FOX KTVU.
Since the car that struck the woman fled the scene, and there were no passengers inside the Cruise car, officials have been left to piece together what transpired.
“Rescuers did not have any drivers or any passengers to ask about the nature of the injuries or how the victim came to be beneath the vehicle,” Shore said.
Officials couldn’t say how long the unnamed woman was trapped underneath the Cruise vehicle.
According to Cruise, the human-driven vehicle was traveling in the lane immediately to the left of the self-driving vehicle when the human-driven car struck the woman, the company said in a statement Tuesday morning.
“The initial impact was severe and launched the pedestrian directly in front of the AV,” Cruise’s statement read.
Cruise said their vehicle braked “aggressively,” to try and minimize impact.
Video the company shared with KTVU — that has not been shared publicly — shows the victim was first struck by the hit-and-run driver before falling into the self-driving car’s path.
San Francisco Police Department said the autonomous vehicle remained at the scene following the crash. There was no occupant inside the AV at the time of the collision.
Heavy rescue tools, including the Jaws of Life, were used to retrieve the victim, Shore said.
First responders were at the scene within 60 seconds of the initial dispatch.
The woman was transported to an area hospital after responding officers and medics rendered aid.
San Francisco is the host city to the nation’s first experiment with robotaxis operated by Cruise, the General Motors-owned company, and Google’s Waymo startup.
The autonomous vehicles have drawn safety complaints, as they have been blamed for blocking ambulances responding to emergencies as well as a slew of other issues in the city.
